Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter X Hunter or its characters.

A/N:
Some pre-Valentine's Day fluff I wrote about 2 months ago! It's my first time writing fluff/romance so it might be sort'a off... :P More people need to ship HisoMachi though haha :)
I have something really important on tomorrow, so wish me luck! .
Enjoy, and leave a review 'cos I want to know how you felt about the fic! :)

The moment Hisoka stepped into the vicinity, Machi knew. He'd been tracking her, the stinking rat, since she'd left the Spider's base.

This was an abandoned city—a perfect place for battle.

The pink-haired adult tightened her grip on her finely sharpened needles; their threads gleaming even in the dimming sunlight.

"Found you~" His voice with dripping with honey, as usual.

She rolled her eyes irritably.

She was seated on the edge of the run-down fountain located in the heart of the city, which was a very, very conspicuous place to be. She practically stood out from the whole gloomy and depressing backdrop, what with her shock of pink hair.

Machi's cold blue eyes bore holes through Hisoka's soul. Or at least, tried to. "What's your deal?" Her sharp voice and icy words cut through the silence.

Hisoka maintained his ever-present smile as he made his way towards Machi coolly. Machi readied her needles. Something was… off about him today.

Then, like a bolt from the blue, Hisoka stepped forward and hugged her.

Hugged her.

It took every ounce of strength in Machi's body to stop herself from giving him a few thousand uppercuts as a reflex action. Instead, she took deep breaths as she willed her muscles to relax.

Talk about unexpected.

When was the last time she had been hugged? Had she ever been hugged? Machi honestly didn't know. She'd lived the life of a bandit, a criminal for so long, she'd cast her heart into steel and… well, hadn't had such contact even with anyone in many, many years.

So it was perfectly natural for her to be shell-shocked.

Machi swallowed nervously. Hisoka's strong, muscular arms were wrapped around her waist, but in a gentle manner. The heat from his body penetrated her clothes and seemed to seep into her very being, making her feel… hot. Or was that just because of her face flushing?

Her heart palpitated violently as she slowly lifted her slender (and slightly trembling) arms and reached to hug Hisoka. The second they made contact with his waist, her heart practically slammed into overdrive, and the tingly feeling at her fingertips was surely due to some allergy reaction?

"Y…You can let go now, Hisoka." His name tasted foreign to Machi's tongue. She had never called him by his name before; she'd never really bothered calling him by anything.

Hisoka smiled his trademark smile and moved his head ever so slightly such that his lips brushed against Machi's ear as he whispered merrily, "Not yet~" His breath felt warm against her ear, and his lips tickled her so as he enunciated every syllable crisply and clearly.

This made the pink-haired girl's face turn an even brighter shade of red, and she felt somewhat assured that at least Hisoka couldn't see her face. But he sure could feel her racing heart. Which meant… that Machi could feel his too.

For the longest time Machi had believed Hisoka's heartbeat to reflect his calm, cool and collected nature, with a steady rhythm and strong, even pulsations.

But now she could toss that theory into the trashcan.

As Hisoka's body pressed against hers, she could feel the beats of his heart—more like pounds of his heart, thumping in an accelerated mode… Just like her own heartbeat.

It was fascinating in a way, how two human beings, when coming into full-body contact, had heartbeats that raced at almost the exact same speed, and tried to drown the sound of the other one's heartbeat.

Two hearts, pumping in synchrony… Machi decided she could get used to it.

She held on for just a tad longer, and then released her grip on Hisoka. "Okay, that's enough. I need my supper," Machi stated coolly, having calmed down already, and turned to head for the next city where she could probably pop into a fast food restaurant to get some grub to munch on.

"Mmmmm~ You're so cold as usual, even after we just had a paaassionate embrace!" Hisoka was back in his joker attitude, teasing and taunting despite his own racing heart. "You're walking too fast~ I can't catch up~" He cooed.

Machi ignored him, like the perfect girlfriend she was supposed to be.

Hisoka shrugged happily, "You leave me with no choice."

With a quick twitch of his index finger in his direction, Machi went flying backwards in the air, eyes wide with shock, and promptly landed in Hisoka's arms—bridal style.

"What on earth?!" She finally lost her cool and snapped. "Put me down!" She wrestled with Hisoka's ironclad grip but to no avail.

Hisoka feigned ignorance about his Bungee Gum trick and declared gleefully to her, "You came back to me~"

Then he started skipping in the direction of the next city, oblivious to all the incredulous stares he (and Machi) was receiving from the few passers-by, who were in the midst of their own travels.

Machi narrowed her eyes and growled internally.

Someone was going to get fed to the Indoor Fish later.